July 25, 2025 • 35 mins
Tim Cates sits down with JT Ayers, the highly respected head coach of the track and field program at Trabuco Hills High School. Known for building one of the top high school programs in Orange County, JT shares insights into his coaching philosophy, the success behind his speed and performance training, and his passion for developing young athletes both physically and mentally. A key highlight of the conversation is JT’s journey through the Master’s in Coaching and Athletic Administration (MCAA) program at Concordia University Irvine. He reflects on how the experience shaped his approach to leadership, emphasizing the importance of continued education for coaches.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
For two decades, a teacher and coach, now podcaster. Yes,
one of the most successful track and field coaches in
California joins us for episode eighty two of the Masters
in Coaching podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
He is J. T Ayres, and he joins us now
let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, welcome into episode number eighty two the Masters in
Coaching podcast here on iHeartRadio, wherever you're getting it and
watching it on YouTube. We appreciate you being with us.
Excited to talk to this week's guest. Two decades as
a teacher, a coach, and one of the most successful
track and field coaches in Orange County, first in Orange
Lutheran High School and then since twenty fourteen has been
(00:41):
at Tribucial Hills High School. A three time Orange County
Track Coach of the Year, his teams have set numerous
school league, CIF state records in track and field. He
has developed and runs one of the most and best
performance programs in the country, teaching and training young runners.
You can find out more at Coach. He also has
(01:01):
got a great podcast on track. We'll find out a
little bit more about that and talk podcasting with him
in just a few minutes. He is jt Ayres and
he joins us now here on the Masters and Coaching
podcast Coach.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
How you doing, Hey man, I'm doing great. Thanks for
having me.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Absolutely, I want to talk about the podcast first, Uh,
everything you're doing coaching, teaching, successful at both and what
you've done now off the track and developing your own
street speed and strength performance program a podcast as well.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
How'd you get involved? It's a great question. A lot
of the credit is gonna come to Steve Rangold, who
is the on Track and Field CEO. And it's like
a it's a it's a company that does a lot
of equipment, and I mean it's basically a place that
any coach is going to go to and get anything
they need that has to do with coaching. So I
(01:53):
mean I am actually a customer of theirs as well.
So Pull Vault landing systems, a high jump it, everything, blocks, spikes, everything.
He contacted me. I actually did not know him, but
we're both in California, and he contacted me and said, hey,
I have a podcast, and you spoke at a clinic
a long time ago and I was there and you
said something that has resonated with me and I think
(02:16):
would be perfect for this podcast is this. You said,
you weren't smart enough to know you need to go
to the Olympics. You weren't in a college D one program,
you weren't mentored by the best and the brightest and
track and field. But yet because of that, you seek
people out and you take him out for you know,
coffee or a beer or burgers or anything you can
(02:36):
and you just try to learn. And I say, oh, absolutely,
Like that's my summers are filled with taking people out
for meals and having conversations and doing zoom calls, especially
after COVID. He's like, well, that's what the podcast is
going to be. It's going to be an opportunity for
you to continue what you're doing. But then let's broadcast
this out to the world. And I was like, oh right,
and then let's do that. So started off like any podcast,
(03:00):
I was talking to people that I already knew or
I really wanted to talk to, and then we found
ourselves in Vegas multiple different times in multiple different years
with managing groups. I'm talking to Noah Lyles and Rye
Benjamin and some of the greatest and best coaches and
athletes in the world, gold medalists and who are like, hey,
you wanted to see the gold medal, and like, yeah,
(03:22):
would definitely like to see this gold medal. It's it's
turned into a really fun endeavor. I find the people
and with a little credibility, it goes a long way.
And so it's been a very worthwhile experience.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I think it's sort of fitting your personality wanting to learn,
wanting to absorb, wanting to learn from different people and
coming from different backgrounds, and then doing it on a
podcasts seems like it's just a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I mean, it's it's not something I'm you know, I
would say that I was trained for. I mean, unlike you.
I mean, this is this is your world, you know.
And so however, I think I bring something that's a
little different than most. I'm a coach, and I have
questions because every single podcast or it's gonna be a
quick interview, but there're gonna be things that I really
want to know. And so I mean, in some ways,
(04:12):
I get to do a podcast, but I'm learning I
really want to engage and learn and develop relationships, because
that's how we learn. We are mentored and discipled, and
this is all from relationships. And so the podcast is
just a byproduct of all of that. I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I don't want to listen to a podcast and hear
how smart somebody is and tell me how smart they.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Are and why they're a genius and I'm not, and
I need to learn from them.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I like podcasts where it's conversational, where you're just kind
of eavesdropping on on a conversation, or you're there because
you want to hear specifically what this person has to say,
and when they talk to you about it, they're not
talking down to you. They're explaining what they're talking about
and that subject in that matter. So I've heard some
of it, and I think you do a great job
on that. But let's get into coaching. How did you
(04:58):
get into coaching? How did you get into track and field?
What's your background?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I was a football player in high school. I was
a track and field athlete. I did a bunch of
other sports as well. I just I love sports, and
I went to college to do sports. It just didn't
work out, but I met a young lady and we
ended up getting married right after our junior year. Fell
deeply in love, and we both decided that being teachers
(05:24):
was probably going to be. You know, I hate to say,
I wish I would say because we love the kids,
but junior year fell deeply in love and we both
decided that being teachers was probably going to be. You know,
I hate to say, I wish I would say because
we love the kids, but we love the lifestyle of
being able to both work and you know, and as
it's kind of funny because since we had we have
(05:45):
four kids of our own, and when we had our
first kid, you know, sixteen seventeen years ago, she stopped
working and so I was going to be a coach
and a teacher. But coaching actually was never part of
the plan. In fact, my coach from high school found
out I was in town, called me and said, I
have nobody here, please, I just need someone to help
(06:05):
with hurdles. And I knew nothing about hurdles. I did
it in high school. And he's like, just two weeks,
give me two weeks. It did even take that long,
tim I was there for a day, and as I
was leaving that day, I was like, this is what
I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
This was my calling. I did coach football, and I
have coached other things, but track and field has turned
(06:25):
out to be my life endeavor, and there's a reason
for that. Track offers this really interesting kind of I
would say lens into the athlete, where the athlete needs
to individually and a coach has to individually meet with
that person and where they're at with their skill level,
their psychology, to the whole thing, their emotional state. I
(06:46):
mean high school kids, you can get a bad grade
on a test or break up with your girlfriend that
changes everything that day, and the next day it might
be something different. I love the idea of motivating the
individual and then what happens is that all comes together
as a big team. I'm not trying to move eleven
people like a football team to move together. I'm trying
to move one person in their lane around the track
(07:07):
in the way that makes them better. So yeah, I
think track and field has a lot of parallels to
real life. All my assistant coaches and myself we look
at this as we're coaching track, but we're coaching people.
We really and I know this sounds cliche, but we
really believe that we're trying to make these people better.
I'm trying to give them opportunities to see that there's
(07:29):
going to be these lifelong memories that can tap into.
And some of the greatest joys of my coaching career
has been after they graduate high school, when they call
me and they say things like, coach, I don't know
what to do with this job. I don't know what
to do, like we're I'm gonna get married. What do
I do? What do I say? And some of those relationships.
I mean, I've been coaching long enough to have athletes
(07:51):
that have their own kids, and so it's been a
very interesting journey. I love every second of it. My
whole family's into it. My dad coaches with me since
he retired, my wife helps, my son's a sophomore, and
my other three kids are all on their way through
the program as well. It is a life where, I mean,
I get to wear sweatpants and cool Nike gear every day,
(08:14):
and I get to go out and I love practices.
I love the fact that I get to meet people
where they're at and help them, especially in these formative
teenage years, develop lifelong disciplines and opportunities and where they're loved,
and they can see that this is something that can
make them better, and then they pass it on.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Kind of just getting ready to talk to you. I
noticed a theme more and more about how part of
your training is positive affirmation, encouraging. You talk about it
providing a worthwhile learning environment. That's important because a coach
can be there to just get gratification as far as
wins and titles and championships and records. I love how
(08:57):
you're about winning, but you're also about making make sure
these kids and their experience is a positive one when
they're doing it well.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Winning is fun. Losing is terrible. However, losing is just
I mean, winning is just gonna be a byproduct of
you know, hard work and talent. And you know, here's
the thing is like, sometimes you're not going to get
the talent. You can't recruit track and field at a
public school. I receive the students that are in that
attendance area and they show up for the first day
(09:25):
and then we get to work and I can't him.
There's so many stories about where a athlete was. Let's
think a you know, there's an example of this this
just this last year that just happened where we had
a young man he didn't make the team. We have
tryouts and he didn't make the team his freshman year.
It's too small, but he tried the one hundred like
(09:46):
maybe ten times in an hour and he was getting
slower each time, I mean get tired. He walked up
to me and he's just like, coach, everything about everything
that I am. Wants to be part of this team.
I was like, meet me and my classroom with my
assistant co Just after the trials he came in and
we basically said, hey, listen, you're everything that is track
(10:06):
and field at Tribuca Hills High School. You stand for everything.
Would you be interested in being a team manager who
would continue to train but have an extra level of
responsibility being my right hand man? And he was like
he's just burst into tears. He's like yes, Quinn Holmes
dad called me. He said, thank you so much. This
is all he wanted. And fast forward fourty years later,
he was a Orange County champion, this champion this year
(10:29):
with jumping, pole vaulting in fifteen ten and he's going
to go to a D one college at cal Poly Pomona.
It's amazing to see people, young men and women, grow
into something remarkable and that's just by choice. And so
we feel like our program can do that. So when
you say positive, the old school style of coaching where
(10:50):
you're yelling and the way that I was coached and
most people have been coached is it's just that drill
sergeant doesn't work anymore and it never really worked with me.
I just kind of like heard the coach yelling and
I just ignored on me. Know, And trust is above everything.
If the athletes don't trust you, then you can't move them.
(11:10):
Leadership is about trust. And so if the athlete trust
me and trust the assistant coaches, they're going to do
amazing things. I mean, we're gonna see these people, We're
gonna see these people change. And so yeah, I think
trust is important. How I hold them accountable. They you know,
I tell them I'm disappointed in them, and it's usually
(11:31):
because of effort, not because of the final result of
a performance. Performance is meaningless. Give your best. And the
thing about track too, is you can win, but at
some level you're gonna get beat. Ever, somebody's faster than
you somewhere, and usually you find them the further down
the road you go. And I like when that we win.
(11:51):
Duel meets takes sixteen events, takes an entire team takes
one hundred and fifty boys to all move together, and
there's a lot to be celebrating in those moments.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
You mentioned the word trust, and as you're talking, I'm
thinking about yourself, other coaches, going through my mind about
you know, coaching might got my daughters as well, and
it is so important, I think, especially now in the
culture that these kids, in the environment that these kids
are around, maybe they don't have somebody that they can
look to and trust, a leader they can trust, or
they don't have, you know, things in their life that
(12:23):
they can trust because on social media, can you trust it?
It's so fake and things aren't real out there, and
this world is so different from them.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I think they're searching for trust right now. Oh absolutely.
In fact, there was a study that was done maybe
fifteen years ago the small school in Texas, and I
found it and then I was like, I'm just gonna
copy this to see if I'm actually meeting the generation
and the generational needs, because I mean, people change. I've
been coaching for twenty years and so like the athlete
twenty years ago, it's much different than the athlete today.
(12:51):
There's still there still kids, but the motivations are a
little different, and it's because the world changes. And the
basic study had all these different options for what do
you want in your leader, and a lot of those
were like empowering and vision and you know, and they're
all good things. Love, They're all good things. The final
(13:12):
result was trust is the number one important thing, and
then love. Well, everything that I say, do, every workout
that I write, every post that I put on YouTube
or Instagram or has something to do with the athlete.
When we take pictures and we put smoke behind them
and make it super cool. I mean, all of that
stuff has to accumulate to like this idea that we
(13:34):
love you and we're going to show that to you.
It's an action and then you can trust us. And
so I will never bluff, I will never lie. They
need to know that this isn't about my ego. I mean,
I'm a public school employee, you know, to be quite honest,
you know this is going to be you know, on
the record, but nobody cares if we win. We care,
you know the whole You know, my school is just
proud that we're we got something cool going on. They're
(13:56):
not sitting me down and saying you need to win no, never,
But we care, We care deeply that we win and
we do it the right way. And you know what,
sometimes you don't win, but you gave you very best.
And there's a big difference between losing and getting beat.
We will never get we will never lose, but we're
gonna get beat sometimes and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
You mentioned that first time you went out there to
work hurdles as a coach, and you talked about that
instant this is what you want to do in track
and field, is how the vessel you wanted to do it.
Do you think it would have been the same coaching
another sport. You talked about the individual relationship with your
track and field athletes, with the way you want to
(14:39):
coach and the way you do coach and pour into
kids couldn't work in a team sport traditionally, like nine
guys on a field or five guys on a court,
that type of a sport.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I have coached varsity football. I coached with you know,
Jason Nigero, Saint john bosco is at Tribute coach at Johnson.
I mean Saint Margaret's coach, Dan O'Shea and I mean
cdm's coach Kevin headick. We were all in the same
staff together in two thousand and gosh, eight nine and
ten made such Yeah, it was fun. Very good coaches,
(15:15):
and you know what's interesting is they did a good job.
It was harder in other sports to take a team,
a group of people and move them together and then
individually meet with every single athlete and have to tell them,
this is the vision I have for you. I know
you're a sophomore, but I need you to continue to
work on the defensive line even though you want to
(15:36):
play wide receiver, because I see a future in you
and I see greatness in you in this way. Well,
that's tough in a team environment, and some good coaches
do a good job with that. Sometimes they say we
don't care deal with it, you know, and that's their thing.
Track is different. Track is I have to do that.
It's it's imperative that you cast vision with every single
(15:59):
individual athlete. Like it takes a lot of time. It
takes a lot of time. You have to know them personally.
You have to know them pretty much to the like
the way that they handle motivation, where they're coming from,
the baggage they brain. Whatever. The idea though, is that
I have to individually cast vision to every single individual
athlete on the team so they know where they're going,
and then we go there together. I might be the
(16:21):
captain of the ship, but they're steering, you know. I
can only ask them to do so much. They have
to give their full effort, and if they don't, they're
the ones that have to run the race, not me.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Jt Aires is our guest to hear on episode eighty
two of the Masters and Coaching podcast here on iHeart
Radio twenty thirteen. You decide to leave Orange Lutheran and
go to Tribucal Hills. How hard was that for you
to make that decision or was it going back to
your alma mater.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
It's a great question. It was not hard because Orange
Lutheran told me they didn't want me anymore. What it was,
I was young. I think I was young in my career.
I was still figuring out. I think it was my
third or fourth time. And to be quite honest, I
just had twins. I was doing I just finished the
Master's program at in Cordy, which I loved. I was
(17:09):
getting some theology credits at my church. It was I
was doing a lot. I was doing a lot, and
we had a three year old, two one year olds,
and a newborn at the time as well, and so
it was a lot. I think when you look back,
it was the best thing that could have happened for me.
And the reason I say that is because it pushed
me into an environment where I could have thrived in
(17:30):
a public school environment, a bigger school. The school was, hey,
you do your thing, we need to do your theme,
leave you alone, whereas at Orange Lutheran, the big thing
was the big school and you were just part of it,
which actually was great, except I couldn't really move in
the way that I individually wanted to move. There's a
lot of limitations. Orange Lutheran doesn't have a track. You
(17:52):
have to go and take a bus to a track
to practice. It's a smaller school, different different things I wanted,
and it worked out to have a big program. Now.
When I left Orange luther and actually had some options
to go different places. Tribuco Hills, where I went to
high school, open Arms was so excited to have me
(18:13):
and I felt like I was home, and so it
just was a good fit and I have felt validated
every day ever since. Orange Lutheran. I was there for
three years. We want a CIF title. I I loved
every second of it, and I knew leaving was tough,
but it was a good split. It was a good
movement and they've they've been doing great. I have a
(18:34):
great relationship with their their principal and their head coach
for track and field, and it's a it's been a
really cool journey. But you and I both know sometimes
our journeys aren't the ones we write, but yet we
look back and it's it's the ones that were the
best for us.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Broader question, coach, where's kind of the state of high
school track and field right now? Has it plateaued? Is
there a room for growth? I mean, obviously there's room
for growth in every sport as you want to get
bigger and bigger. But where's track and fuel right now
in the state of California thriving?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
And it is. It is a combination of two things. One,
I mean, the talent is unbelievable in California and the
rest of the country is very aware of that. The
sprint times, the distance athletes, the pole vault. I mean,
it's just unmatched, unparalleled. But it is fueled by coaches
that are passionate about the sport. It is not because
(19:30):
of the media. I mean, I'm not sure OC Register
wrote one article about track and field this entire year.
In fact, when they do contact me and ask for help,
I'll say, all right, here's this, this, and this, and
they'll just copy and paste it and throw it on
their website and it's like, well that's not great. So
it is not because media coverage, because it's not what
pays the bills. Football and basketball do that they always will,
(19:53):
but track and field, for those that are involved, especially
in like an Olympic year, it is gaining a lot
of traction. I would say it's a growing sport. The
numbers across the board, across the country and especially in
California are very high. It is typically a sport where
you have cross country distance athletes, you have all these
other sports that come together in a part of the
(20:14):
track and field teams. I would say, especially in Orange County,
it is still thriving as well, and it's again fueled
by coaches and people that are very passionate about the
sport and it's probably going to stay that way, even
though we would wish ESPN would pick it up or
you know, somebody would talk about it. It's just not
gonna happen. It's one of those sports that many don't understand,
(20:38):
but yet when they see it, it's very fun. Yeah.
I got a great example of that. Kids go to
a small Christian school.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
There was a girl who played soccer and was a
very good soccer player through middle school. And the dad said,
what else can my daughter do to you know, stay
in shape and have that endurance? And they said, run
distance and anything about track. Cross country turned into long
distance running track, and lo and behold, this young lady
(21:06):
turned into an elite athlete. Goes to Oregon and running
track and it's going to go run maybe in the Olympics.
And just that experience and that opening to the world
of track and field. Didn't know anything about it, didn't
even think about it. Was focused on soccer, but to
better their sport. We see this a lot of football.
You know football, you want to get better in your speed,
(21:28):
your endurance, that get off off the line, go run
track is what we hear a lot. Is that pretty common,
you know, to see other kids like, all right, I'm
playing another sport, but track and field is also going
to help me in what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Absolutely you're going to find that, especially in the football world,
you can do both. Track and field is one of
those sports where you can actually train and then go
do soccer. You probably you know in soccer, I mean
it's a cult. I mean it's it's these club coaches
really rule the world in many these athletes lives. But
you can do both football. It's a great example. You
(22:04):
can come and if you're a big guy, you're gonna throw.
If you're a sprinter, you're gonna run and you're gonna
learn how to run. I mean, the best athletes in
the NFL, we're all multi sport athletes. That's one thing
that I really enjoy about the high school that I'm
at is that the idea of a multi sport athlete
is paramount. Like the coaches get together monthly and figure
(22:24):
out ways that we can connect athletes to one another
because we all recognize that maybe ten months out of
the year hanging out with coach airs, you need a break,
you need a break and you can go get you know,
influenced and mentored by another person. And I'm out of
school with really good coaches, like good people, and so
I feel very fortunate to be able to say, you
know what, like, I'm not sure track is for you.
(22:44):
I think baseball lacrosse is for you, and we're gonna
help you with that. Great. That's great, and then vice versa.
I've had the baseball coach most like a number of
times walk down and say, this athlete is a pretty
good baseball player. I think they could be exceptional at track.
I said, I'm out, let's see, and they fall in
love with something. That's actually the one of the most
rewarding things about my career is not so much convincing,
(23:08):
but seeing that moment where they fall in love with
something they never thought they would ever. It wasn't even
on their radar, you know, especially with soccer girls, you
teach them this even though they're so good at something else,
and then they're at the state finals and they're like,
this is incredible. You know, I've never thought I'd be
on this stage with my best friends in the world,
(23:31):
doing something I love so much. And then when the
season's over, there heartbroken. They're sad. We all are, and
that's the nature of the sport. And so yeah, track
is very easy to love.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
In coaching, track and performance coordination, power balance, strength, agility
all part of it. And something I think that gets
lost in training and I hope you can talk about
is injury prevention. And most athletes, especially when they're young.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
I'm not going to get hurt. That's for old people.
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I'm not gonna pull a must, I'm not going to
cramp up. I'm not going to tear something. How important
is it for you in your training young track and
field athletes?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Okay, so it's let me preface with this, and I
wholeheartedly believe this, and I have the data to support it.
Is that speed is taught. It is it's people, you're
born with it. Yeah, I can make you faster, Tim,
I'm not sure how fast. I mean, you're ceiling. It
might be here, but I can make you faster. So
the idea is that anybody can get faster. You just
(24:32):
got to learn how to do it. Any injury is
going to be mostly especially in a non contact sport,
It's going to be about movement. And so you have
to especially with young athletes, anyone that I'm I'm coaching, especially,
I mean like under in middle school and under is
it's going to be teaching them how to move. You
need to teach people how to apply force to the ground,
how to have good posture, how to move and change direction.
(24:54):
These are all things that are teachable, and you can
do those things by a wide range. You come up
with a plan and you teach athletes how to move.
That translates into speed. Any injury that happens in track
and field is a biomechanics issue, like they're overreaching, or
they're not pushing down, or they're in a position they
shouldn't be and their body's not going to respond. One
(25:15):
of the most violent things a human body can do
is sprint. I mean you're asking it to do something
that is was designed to do. And however, it is
very very difficult for that body to move at that speed,
for that loan in that way, and so you have
to teach you how to do it. And so yeah,
we teach constantly. I mean the athlete I used earlier,
(25:37):
the pole vlter, we taught him and he worked really,
really hard for ten months out of the year for
four years. He actually was our best hurdler this year
as well. I mean he was a fantastic athlete, not
because he was born with it, but because he worked
his butt off and so how good is he gonna be? Who?
No one knows. I have no idea. I had no idea.
This a little small, little cute, little cuy. It was like,
(26:00):
looked like he was in third grade as a freshman,
was going to be a fifteen to ten pole vaulter.
Like it's insane. But the idea is this, You teach
people how to move right and then you figure out
where their ceiling is as time goes on. And I mean,
we have athletes that have graduated from Tribuco that are
in college running and they're still getting better, They're still
(26:20):
getting faster, brings joy in my heart.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
You mentioned it earlier. I touched upon it in the beginning.
You went through the Masters and Coaching and Athletics Administration
program at in Cordia University, Irvine.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
First, how did you find out.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
About the program? And second what was that experience like
for you? I mean you mentioned that you had young kids,
you're coaching, you're teaching, and there in that time you
moved schools.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Well, I actually just finished right before I moved to school.
Orange Lutheran brought it to me. I think I was
the second graduating class. I might be, yeah, I think
I was the second graduating class of the MCA program.
It was basically one of those moments where they're like
you like learning, yes, I do. Do you like school? No?
I do not, because typically school is that where you
(27:08):
have to go and do things you don't want to do,
Like I don't want to take math one oh five.
But you know, like that sounds terrible. What would you
like to go and learn about how to be a
better coach? How to athletically administer the idea of moving
athletes and people in a direction with leadership? Oh yeah,
that sounds fantastic. So the program, even in its like infancy,
(27:31):
it was very good. And the reason why it was
very good is because there was an opportunity for me
to earn a master's which gives me a financial advantage
at a school system. It helps me figure out, like,
how can I learn and do things for something I
actually want to learn and do and I can apply it.
This isn't just a master's degree that I'll never apply
(27:52):
Every single lesson I had. I still, I mean I
have over here. I have a bookshelf still full of
things that I got from that that college, and I
bust them out all the time. It's been. It was
a worthwhile in program, and I know it's important to know.
I am not getting paid to say any of this.
It was worth it. And I know number of people,
just tons of coaches that I've gone through the program,
(28:14):
especially in Orange County. It is a fantastic program and
it's just down the street in Irvine. Feels good.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Do you think about if you didn't go through that
Master's program and finding out more about leadership, what kind
of coach you'd be now? And do you think about, Wow,
if I wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't be here
or knowing this or have that expertise.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
It's a good question. What I think the Master's program
really did for me was give me a push. So
it almost feels like I had a an advantage, like
instead of, you know, having to take the years to
learn these things myself, which I definitely am still learning
and I would continue to try to learn. I feel
like this the program pushed me ahead five or six years.
(29:00):
They say, hey, here you go, you start down there now,
because you've already received a lot of these skills. And
not only that, but a lot of the questions that
I had about leadership and about development. I now had
language for it because of the program.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
When you think about, you know, the kind of coach
you are now compared to where you were as a
young coach, What are some of the things maybe goals
that you're still trying to achieve Or is it just
by absorption, you know, seeing that maybe something a coach
does over here, or how they do something this way
(29:35):
and just kind of absorbing and learning as you go,
or are there things that you kind of have listed
down these are what I want to do, and this
is the kind of things I want to keep implementing
in my program.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I think over time you develop a system. I am
the amount of notes. I mean, I should share my
screen with you on the Zoom call and show you
the amount of Google tabs I have out, you know,
and on my Google drive. Oh my gosh, like the
amount of notes. I just I like to acquire information.
I like to figure out a way how that makes
sense to me and how I can apply it to
my culture and my team. And I like to acquire
(30:09):
so much. And I like to do that by developer
relationships with people. And I mean, I would say ninety
nine point nine percent of everything I do has stolen
from somebody and is through clinics or relationships. I mean
I became very good friends with Kareem will Have out
of Georgia, who's arguably probably the best sprint coach in
the world. And him and I've tucked countless hours on
(30:33):
the phone. I mean, he was in his car rallying
off formulas to get the best four hundred meter runner
to do what they need to do based on all
these different trajectories and data. And I was like writing
down furiously trying to figure out how to figure out
I mean and even that, like I had to go
and make a spreadsheet using you know, Excel and formulas
just because I couldn't understand he did in his head
(30:55):
in the car, but I had to put it down
on a piece of paper and make sure it was
a formula that worked well and act. So I think
my the coach that I was, the athletes were the
good athletes are always going to be successful. I mean
they just are bad coaching can still good kids are
still going to rise above that and be great. I
think one thing that I've changed a lot is that
(31:15):
everybody else, I take a lot of pride to know
that we had you know, thirty two kids break twelve
seconds in the hundred this year and we had five
kids break eleven. I mean like we I had nobody
get to state finals. I nobody actually on the boys
side get to past CIF prelims. It's just insane the
amount of speed out there. However, there is a large
(31:38):
group of kids that are all getting better. I take
a lot of pride in that. I take pride in
watching more people get better, and I the one thing
that I want to do and continue to prove on
is just improve that programming in just like small details.
And at the end of every single year, I like
to think I'm a better coach because of the experiences
I just had.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
You know, it's funny, I've done eighty two of these
and almost every single coach even administrator that we talked
to is happily is very eager to say, hey, I'm
always willing to learn and want to learn, and that's
what's so great about it. I don't know if the
program is something that helps with that to instill it
(32:20):
in the minds of people that go through the program,
or it's just part of the way coaches, good successful
coaches and administrators are wired knowing that, hey, just because
I'm here, I may not know everything, and that's okay.
It's okay to learn and grab and borrow and to
get better because it's gonna make you better for the
long term. I think that's interesting because not every coach
(32:40):
is like that. Some coaches like I learned it this way.
I'm not going to learn any other way. This is
who taught me twenty years ago when I played.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
And I'm not going to deviate from that. It's funny
you say that. I mean, my second year as an
assistant coach, the head coach at the time said, hey, listen,
I've been doing this for thirty years. I was like, man,
you're a he's a bad coach. I mean, you almost
did it one year and then you just repeated it
twenty nine times in a row. And I was like,
I am not going to be that. And the best
(33:07):
coaches in the world, and I think you alluded to it,
tim are are humble and are willing to share, and
I mean really share every article that I write, every
video series, every Twitter Instagram post. I'm in South Carolina
this week speaking at their Coaches Convention. I'm just giving
them everything because I get everything. It's like when people
(33:28):
are willing to share, you're willing to learn and grow. Yep.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Coachairs dot com. Find out more about coach Jtairs. His
program Tribuqai Hills High School Track and Field, one of
the best in southern California. Coach I enjoyed the conversation immenseally.
I knew it was going to be fun talking to you.
I know our listeners and viewers enjoyed it as well.
Again to find out more about coach coach airs dot com.
(33:54):
Great coach, great motivator, and great leader. Most importantly, thank
you so much for the time today.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Uh, it's my pleasure and you know it. Thanks for
the encouragement. I appreciate the affirmations absolutely well. There he
goes Coach JT.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Airs from Tribuco Hills High School here in southern California.
He has developed one of the best track and field
programs in the state of California. He's also developed and
runs one of the most as successful programs as far
as developing young runners training them. Find out more at
coachairs dot com. It's also got a great podcast on
(34:29):
track with Jtairs. Find out more about that on iHeartRadio
or wherever you get your podcasts. We certainly appreciate you
listening here so the Masters in Coaching podcast. Coach Airs
went through the Masters in Coaching and Athletics Administration program
back in twenty eleven, and here he is today as
one of the most successful track and field coaches in
(34:51):
Southern California and as he said, continuing to learn on
an everyday basis.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
We appreciate his time. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
If you want to find out more about the Masters
in Coaching and Athletics Administration Program at Concordia University, Irvine,
just go to CUI dot edu slash coaching. That's CUI
dot edu slash coaching. Got the summer program starting here
in just a few weeks. The fall program will be
here before.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
You know it. They got multiple start times through the year.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
And if you're a first time student in the program,
you get one thousand dollars scholarship.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Find out more if it's the right fit for you.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Coach Teacher Administrator, CUI dot edu slash Coaching. Once again,
thanks to coach at JT. Airs from Tribuco Hills High School.
Thanks to you for listening and being a part of
episode eighty two of the Masters in Coaching podcast. Now
in the books until next time. Tip Kate's saying, so long, everybody,
For two decades, a teacher and coach, now podcaster. Yes,
one of the most successful track and field coaches in
California joins us for episode eighty two of the Masters
in Coaching podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
He is J. T Ayres, and he joins us now
let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Well, welcome into episode number eighty two the Masters in
Coaching podcast here on iHeartRadio, wherever you're getting it and
watching it on YouTube. We appreciate you being with us.
Excited to talk to this week's guest. Two decades as
a teacher, a coach, and one of the most successful
track and field coaches in Orange County, first in Orange
Lutheran High School and then since twenty fourteen has been
(00:41):
at Tribucial Hills High School. A three time Orange County
Track Coach of the Year, his teams have set numerous
school league, CIF state records in track and field. He
has developed and runs one of the most and best
performance programs in the country, teaching and training young runners.
You can find out more at Coach. He also has
(01:01):
got a great podcast on track. We'll find out a
little bit more about that and talk podcasting with him
in just a few minutes. He is jt Ayres and
he joins us now here on the Masters and Coaching
podcast Coach.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
How you doing, Hey man, I'm doing great. Thanks for
having me.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Absolutely, I want to talk about the podcast first, Uh,
everything you're doing coaching, teaching, successful at both and what
you've done now off the track and developing your own
street speed and strength performance program a podcast as well.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
How'd you get involved? It's a great question. A lot
of the credit is gonna come to Steve Rangold, who
is the on Track and Field CEO. And it's like
a it's a it's a company that does a lot
of equipment, and I mean it's basically a place that
any coach is going to go to and get anything
they need that has to do with coaching. So I
(01:53):
mean I am actually a customer of theirs as well.
So Pull Vault landing systems, a high jump it, everything, blocks, spikes, everything.
He contacted me. I actually did not know him, but
we're both in California, and he contacted me and said, hey,
I have a podcast, and you spoke at a clinic
a long time ago and I was there and you
said something that has resonated with me and I think
(02:16):
would be perfect for this podcast is this. You said,
you weren't smart enough to know you need to go
to the Olympics. You weren't in a college D one program,
you weren't mentored by the best and the brightest and
track and field. But yet because of that, you seek
people out and you take him out for you know,
coffee or a beer or burgers or anything you can
(02:36):
and you just try to learn. And I say, oh, absolutely,
Like that's my summers are filled with taking people out
for meals and having conversations and doing zoom calls, especially
after COVID. He's like, well, that's what the podcast is
going to be. It's going to be an opportunity for
you to continue what you're doing. But then let's broadcast
this out to the world. And I was like, oh right,
and then let's do that. So started off like any podcast,
(03:00):
I was talking to people that I already knew or
I really wanted to talk to, and then we found
ourselves in Vegas multiple different times in multiple different years
with managing groups. I'm talking to Noah Lyles and Rye
Benjamin and some of the greatest and best coaches and
athletes in the world, gold medalists and who are like, hey,
you wanted to see the gold medal, and like, yeah,
(03:22):
would definitely like to see this gold medal. It's it's
turned into a really fun endeavor. I find the people
and with a little credibility, it goes a long way.
And so it's been a very worthwhile experience.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I think it's sort of fitting your personality wanting to learn,
wanting to absorb, wanting to learn from different people and
coming from different backgrounds, and then doing it on a
podcasts seems like it's just a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I mean, it's it's not something I'm you know, I
would say that I was trained for. I mean, unlike you.
I mean, this is this is your world, you know.
And so however, I think I bring something that's a
little different than most. I'm a coach, and I have
questions because every single podcast or it's gonna be a
quick interview, but there're gonna be things that I really
want to know. And so I mean, in some ways,
(04:12):
I get to do a podcast, but I'm learning I
really want to engage and learn and develop relationships, because
that's how we learn. We are mentored and discipled, and
this is all from relationships. And so the podcast is
just a byproduct of all of that. I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I don't want to listen to a podcast and hear
how smart somebody is and tell me how smart they.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Are and why they're a genius and I'm not, and
I need to learn from them.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I like podcasts where it's conversational, where you're just kind
of eavesdropping on on a conversation, or you're there because
you want to hear specifically what this person has to say,
and when they talk to you about it, they're not
talking down to you. They're explaining what they're talking about
and that subject in that matter. So I've heard some
of it, and I think you do a great job
on that. But let's get into coaching. How did you
(04:58):
get into coaching? How did you get into track and field?
What's your background?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I was a football player in high school. I was
a track and field athlete. I did a bunch of
other sports as well. I just I love sports, and
I went to college to do sports. It just didn't
work out, but I met a young lady and we
ended up getting married right after our junior year. Fell
deeply in love, and we both decided that being teachers
(05:24):
was probably going to be. You know, I hate to say,
I wish I would say because we love the kids,
but junior year fell deeply in love and we both
decided that being teachers was probably going to be. You know,
I hate to say, I wish I would say because
we love the kids, but we love the lifestyle of
being able to both work and you know, and as
it's kind of funny because since we had we have
(05:45):
four kids of our own, and when we had our
first kid, you know, sixteen seventeen years ago, she stopped
working and so I was going to be a coach
and a teacher. But coaching actually was never part of
the plan. In fact, my coach from high school found
out I was in town, called me and said, I
have nobody here, please, I just need someone to help
(06:05):
with hurdles. And I knew nothing about hurdles. I did
it in high school. And he's like, just two weeks,
give me two weeks. It did even take that long,
tim I was there for a day, and as I
was leaving that day, I was like, this is what
I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
This was my calling. I did coach football, and I
have coached other things, but track and field has turned
(06:25):
out to be my life endeavor, and there's a reason
for that. Track offers this really interesting kind of I
would say lens into the athlete, where the athlete needs
to individually and a coach has to individually meet with
that person and where they're at with their skill level,
their psychology, to the whole thing, their emotional state. I
(06:46):
mean high school kids, you can get a bad grade
on a test or break up with your girlfriend that
changes everything that day, and the next day it might
be something different. I love the idea of motivating the
individual and then what happens is that all comes together
as a big team. I'm not trying to move eleven
people like a football team to move together. I'm trying
to move one person in their lane around the track
(07:07):
in the way that makes them better. So yeah, I
think track and field has a lot of parallels to
real life. All my assistant coaches and myself we look
at this as we're coaching track, but we're coaching people.
We really and I know this sounds cliche, but we
really believe that we're trying to make these people better.
I'm trying to give them opportunities to see that there's
(07:29):
going to be these lifelong memories that can tap into.
And some of the greatest joys of my coaching career
has been after they graduate high school, when they call
me and they say things like, coach, I don't know
what to do with this job. I don't know what
to do, like we're I'm gonna get married. What do
I do? What do I say? And some of those relationships.
I mean, I've been coaching long enough to have athletes
(07:51):
that have their own kids, and so it's been a
very interesting journey. I love every second of it. My
whole family's into it. My dad coaches with me since
he retired, my wife helps, my son's a sophomore, and
my other three kids are all on their way through
the program as well. It is a life where, I mean,
I get to wear sweatpants and cool Nike gear every day,
(08:14):
and I get to go out and I love practices.
I love the fact that I get to meet people
where they're at and help them, especially in these formative
teenage years, develop lifelong disciplines and opportunities and where they're loved,
and they can see that this is something that can
make them better, and then they pass it on.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Kind of just getting ready to talk to you. I
noticed a theme more and more about how part of
your training is positive affirmation, encouraging. You talk about it
providing a worthwhile learning environment. That's important because a coach
can be there to just get gratification as far as
wins and titles and championships and records. I love how
(08:57):
you're about winning, but you're also about making make sure
these kids and their experience is a positive one when
they're doing it well.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Winning is fun. Losing is terrible. However, losing is just
I mean, winning is just gonna be a byproduct of
you know, hard work and talent. And you know, here's
the thing is like, sometimes you're not going to get
the talent. You can't recruit track and field at a
public school. I receive the students that are in that
attendance area and they show up for the first day
(09:25):
and then we get to work and I can't him.
There's so many stories about where a athlete was. Let's
think a you know, there's an example of this this
just this last year that just happened where we had
a young man he didn't make the team. We have
tryouts and he didn't make the team his freshman year.
It's too small, but he tried the one hundred like
(09:46):
maybe ten times in an hour and he was getting
slower each time, I mean get tired. He walked up
to me and he's just like, coach, everything about everything
that I am. Wants to be part of this team.
I was like, meet me and my classroom with my
assistant co Just after the trials he came in and
we basically said, hey, listen, you're everything that is track
(10:06):
and field at Tribuca Hills High School. You stand for everything.
Would you be interested in being a team manager who
would continue to train but have an extra level of
responsibility being my right hand man? And he was like
he's just burst into tears. He's like yes, Quinn Holmes
dad called me. He said, thank you so much. This
is all he wanted. And fast forward fourty years later,
he was a Orange County champion, this champion this year
(10:29):
with jumping, pole vaulting in fifteen ten and he's going
to go to a D one college at cal Poly Pomona.
It's amazing to see people, young men and women, grow
into something remarkable and that's just by choice. And so
we feel like our program can do that. So when
you say positive, the old school style of coaching where
(10:50):
you're yelling and the way that I was coached and
most people have been coached is it's just that drill
sergeant doesn't work anymore and it never really worked with me.
I just kind of like heard the coach yelling and
I just ignored on me. Know, And trust is above everything.
If the athletes don't trust you, then you can't move them.
(11:10):
Leadership is about trust. And so if the athlete trust
me and trust the assistant coaches, they're going to do
amazing things. I mean, we're gonna see these people, We're
gonna see these people change. And so yeah, I think
trust is important. How I hold them accountable. They you know,
I tell them I'm disappointed in them, and it's usually
(11:31):
because of effort, not because of the final result of
a performance. Performance is meaningless. Give your best. And the
thing about track too, is you can win, but at
some level you're gonna get beat. Ever, somebody's faster than
you somewhere, and usually you find them the further down
the road you go. And I like when that we win.
(11:51):
Duel meets takes sixteen events, takes an entire team takes
one hundred and fifty boys to all move together, and
there's a lot to be celebrating in those moments.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
You mentioned the word trust, and as you're talking, I'm
thinking about yourself, other coaches, going through my mind about
you know, coaching might got my daughters as well, and
it is so important, I think, especially now in the
culture that these kids, in the environment that these kids
are around, maybe they don't have somebody that they can
look to and trust, a leader they can trust, or
they don't have, you know, things in their life that
(12:23):
they can trust because on social media, can you trust it?
It's so fake and things aren't real out there, and
this world is so different from them.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I think they're searching for trust right now. Oh absolutely.
In fact, there was a study that was done maybe
fifteen years ago the small school in Texas, and I
found it and then I was like, I'm just gonna
copy this to see if I'm actually meeting the generation
and the generational needs, because I mean, people change. I've
been coaching for twenty years and so like the athlete
twenty years ago, it's much different than the athlete today.
(12:51):
There's still there still kids, but the motivations are a
little different, and it's because the world changes. And the
basic study had all these different options for what do
you want in your leader, and a lot of those
were like empowering and vision and you know, and they're
all good things. Love, They're all good things. The final
(13:12):
result was trust is the number one important thing, and
then love. Well, everything that I say, do, every workout
that I write, every post that I put on YouTube
or Instagram or has something to do with the athlete.
When we take pictures and we put smoke behind them
and make it super cool. I mean, all of that
stuff has to accumulate to like this idea that we
(13:34):
love you and we're going to show that to you.
It's an action and then you can trust us. And
so I will never bluff, I will never lie. They
need to know that this isn't about my ego. I mean,
I'm a public school employee, you know, to be quite honest,
you know this is going to be you know, on
the record, but nobody cares if we win. We care,
you know the whole You know, my school is just
proud that we're we got something cool going on. They're
(13:56):
not sitting me down and saying you need to win no, never,
But we care, We care deeply that we win and
we do it the right way. And you know what,
sometimes you don't win, but you gave you very best.
And there's a big difference between losing and getting beat.
We will never get we will never lose, but we're
gonna get beat sometimes and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
You mentioned that first time you went out there to
work hurdles as a coach, and you talked about that
instant this is what you want to do in track
and field, is how the vessel you wanted to do it.
Do you think it would have been the same coaching
another sport. You talked about the individual relationship with your
track and field athletes, with the way you want to
(14:39):
coach and the way you do coach and pour into
kids couldn't work in a team sport traditionally, like nine
guys on a field or five guys on a court,
that type of a sport.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I have coached varsity football. I coached with you know,
Jason Nigero, Saint john bosco is at Tribute coach at Johnson.
I mean Saint Margaret's coach, Dan O'Shea and I mean
cdm's coach Kevin headick. We were all in the same
staff together in two thousand and gosh, eight nine and
ten made such Yeah, it was fun. Very good coaches,
(15:15):
and you know what's interesting is they did a good job.
It was harder in other sports to take a team,
a group of people and move them together and then
individually meet with every single athlete and have to tell them,
this is the vision I have for you. I know
you're a sophomore, but I need you to continue to
work on the defensive line even though you want to
(15:36):
play wide receiver, because I see a future in you
and I see greatness in you in this way. Well,
that's tough in a team environment, and some good coaches
do a good job with that. Sometimes they say we
don't care deal with it, you know, and that's their thing.
Track is different. Track is I have to do that.
It's it's imperative that you cast vision with every single
(15:59):
individual athlete. Like it takes a lot of time. It
takes a lot of time. You have to know them personally.
You have to know them pretty much to the like
the way that they handle motivation, where they're coming from,
the baggage they brain. Whatever. The idea though, is that
I have to individually cast vision to every single individual
athlete on the team so they know where they're going,
and then we go there together. I might be the
(16:21):
captain of the ship, but they're steering, you know. I
can only ask them to do so much. They have
to give their full effort, and if they don't, they're
the ones that have to run the race, not me.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Jt Aires is our guest to hear on episode eighty
two of the Masters and Coaching podcast here on iHeart
Radio twenty thirteen. You decide to leave Orange Lutheran and
go to Tribucal Hills. How hard was that for you
to make that decision or was it going back to
your alma mater.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
It's a great question. It was not hard because Orange
Lutheran told me they didn't want me anymore. What it was,
I was young. I think I was young in my career.
I was still figuring out. I think it was my
third or fourth time. And to be quite honest, I
just had twins. I was doing I just finished the
Master's program at in Cordy, which I loved. I was
(17:09):
getting some theology credits at my church. It was I
was doing a lot. I was doing a lot, and
we had a three year old, two one year olds,
and a newborn at the time as well, and so
it was a lot. I think when you look back,
it was the best thing that could have happened for me.
And the reason I say that is because it pushed
me into an environment where I could have thrived in
(17:30):
a public school environment, a bigger school. The school was, hey,
you do your thing, we need to do your theme,
leave you alone, whereas at Orange Lutheran, the big thing
was the big school and you were just part of it,
which actually was great, except I couldn't really move in
the way that I individually wanted to move. There's a
lot of limitations. Orange Lutheran doesn't have a track. You
(17:52):
have to go and take a bus to a track
to practice. It's a smaller school, different different things I wanted,
and it worked out to have a big program. Now.
When I left Orange luther and actually had some options
to go different places. Tribuco Hills, where I went to
high school, open Arms was so excited to have me
(18:13):
and I felt like I was home, and so it
just was a good fit and I have felt validated
every day ever since. Orange Lutheran. I was there for
three years. We want a CIF title. I I loved
every second of it, and I knew leaving was tough,
but it was a good split. It was a good
movement and they've they've been doing great. I have a
(18:34):
great relationship with their their principal and their head coach
for track and field, and it's a it's been a
really cool journey. But you and I both know sometimes
our journeys aren't the ones we write, but yet we
look back and it's it's the ones that were the
best for us.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Broader question, coach, where's kind of the state of high
school track and field right now? Has it plateaued? Is
there a room for growth? I mean, obviously there's room
for growth in every sport as you want to get
bigger and bigger. But where's track and fuel right now
in the state of California thriving?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
And it is. It is a combination of two things. One,
I mean, the talent is unbelievable in California and the
rest of the country is very aware of that. The
sprint times, the distance athletes, the pole vault. I mean,
it's just unmatched, unparalleled. But it is fueled by coaches
that are passionate about the sport. It is not because
(19:30):
of the media. I mean, I'm not sure OC Register
wrote one article about track and field this entire year.
In fact, when they do contact me and ask for help,
I'll say, all right, here's this, this, and this, and
they'll just copy and paste it and throw it on
their website and it's like, well that's not great. So
it is not because media coverage, because it's not what
pays the bills. Football and basketball do that they always will,
(19:53):
but track and field, for those that are involved, especially
in like an Olympic year, it is gaining a lot
of traction. I would say it's a growing sport. The
numbers across the board, across the country and especially in
California are very high. It is typically a sport where
you have cross country distance athletes, you have all these
other sports that come together in a part of the
(20:14):
track and field teams. I would say, especially in Orange County,
it is still thriving as well, and it's again fueled
by coaches and people that are very passionate about the
sport and it's probably going to stay that way, even
though we would wish ESPN would pick it up or
you know, somebody would talk about it. It's just not
gonna happen. It's one of those sports that many don't understand,
(20:38):
but yet when they see it, it's very fun. Yeah.
I got a great example of that. Kids go to
a small Christian school.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
There was a girl who played soccer and was a
very good soccer player through middle school. And the dad said,
what else can my daughter do to you know, stay
in shape and have that endurance? And they said, run
distance and anything about track. Cross country turned into long
distance running track, and lo and behold, this young lady
(21:06):
turned into an elite athlete. Goes to Oregon and running
track and it's going to go run maybe in the Olympics.
And just that experience and that opening to the world
of track and field. Didn't know anything about it, didn't
even think about it. Was focused on soccer, but to
better their sport. We see this a lot of football.
You know football, you want to get better in your speed,
(21:28):
your endurance, that get off off the line, go run
track is what we hear a lot. Is that pretty common,
you know, to see other kids like, all right, I'm
playing another sport, but track and field is also going
to help me in what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Absolutely you're going to find that, especially in the football world,
you can do both. Track and field is one of
those sports where you can actually train and then go
do soccer. You probably you know in soccer, I mean
it's a cult. I mean it's it's these club coaches
really rule the world in many these athletes lives. But
you can do both football. It's a great example. You
(22:04):
can come and if you're a big guy, you're gonna throw.
If you're a sprinter, you're gonna run and you're gonna
learn how to run. I mean, the best athletes in
the NFL, we're all multi sport athletes. That's one thing
that I really enjoy about the high school that I'm
at is that the idea of a multi sport athlete
is paramount. Like the coaches get together monthly and figure
(22:24):
out ways that we can connect athletes to one another
because we all recognize that maybe ten months out of
the year hanging out with coach airs, you need a break,
you need a break and you can go get you know,
influenced and mentored by another person. And I'm out of
school with really good coaches, like good people, and so
I feel very fortunate to be able to say, you
know what, like, I'm not sure track is for you.
(22:44):
I think baseball lacrosse is for you, and we're gonna
help you with that. Great. That's great, and then vice versa.
I've had the baseball coach most like a number of
times walk down and say, this athlete is a pretty
good baseball player. I think they could be exceptional at track.
I said, I'm out, let's see, and they fall in
love with something. That's actually the one of the most
rewarding things about my career is not so much convincing,
(23:08):
but seeing that moment where they fall in love with
something they never thought they would ever. It wasn't even
on their radar, you know, especially with soccer girls, you
teach them this even though they're so good at something else,
and then they're at the state finals and they're like,
this is incredible. You know, I've never thought I'd be
on this stage with my best friends in the world,
(23:31):
doing something I love so much. And then when the
season's over, there heartbroken. They're sad. We all are, and
that's the nature of the sport. And so yeah, track
is very easy to love.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
In coaching, track and performance coordination, power balance, strength, agility
all part of it. And something I think that gets
lost in training and I hope you can talk about
is injury prevention. And most athletes, especially when they're young.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
I'm not going to get hurt. That's for old people.
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I'm not gonna pull a must, I'm not going to
cramp up. I'm not going to tear something. How important
is it for you in your training young track and
field athletes?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Okay, so it's let me preface with this, and I
wholeheartedly believe this, and I have the data to support it.
Is that speed is taught. It is it's people, you're
born with it. Yeah, I can make you faster, Tim,
I'm not sure how fast. I mean, you're ceiling. It
might be here, but I can make you faster. So
the idea is that anybody can get faster. You just
(24:32):
got to learn how to do it. Any injury is
going to be mostly especially in a non contact sport,
It's going to be about movement. And so you have
to especially with young athletes, anyone that I'm I'm coaching, especially,
I mean like under in middle school and under is
it's going to be teaching them how to move. You
need to teach people how to apply force to the ground,
how to have good posture, how to move and change direction.
(24:54):
These are all things that are teachable, and you can
do those things by a wide range. You come up
with a plan and you teach athletes how to move.
That translates into speed. Any injury that happens in track
and field is a biomechanics issue, like they're overreaching, or
they're not pushing down, or they're in a position they
shouldn't be and their body's not going to respond. One
(25:15):
of the most violent things a human body can do
is sprint. I mean you're asking it to do something
that is was designed to do. And however, it is
very very difficult for that body to move at that speed,
for that loan in that way, and so you have
to teach you how to do it. And so yeah,
we teach constantly. I mean the athlete I used earlier,
(25:37):
the pole vlter, we taught him and he worked really,
really hard for ten months out of the year for
four years. He actually was our best hurdler this year
as well. I mean he was a fantastic athlete, not
because he was born with it, but because he worked
his butt off and so how good is he gonna be? Who?
No one knows. I have no idea. I had no idea.
This a little small, little cute, little cuy. It was like,
(26:00):
looked like he was in third grade as a freshman,
was going to be a fifteen to ten pole vaulter.
Like it's insane. But the idea is this, You teach
people how to move right and then you figure out
where their ceiling is as time goes on. And I mean,
we have athletes that have graduated from Tribuco that are
in college running and they're still getting better, They're still
(26:20):
getting faster, brings joy in my heart.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
You mentioned it earlier. I touched upon it in the beginning.
You went through the Masters and Coaching and Athletics Administration
program at in Cordia University, Irvine.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
First, how did you find out.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
About the program? And second what was that experience like
for you? I mean you mentioned that you had young kids,
you're coaching, you're teaching, and there in that time you
moved schools.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Well, I actually just finished right before I moved to school.
Orange Lutheran brought it to me. I think I was
the second graduating class. I might be, yeah, I think
I was the second graduating class of the MCA program.
It was basically one of those moments where they're like
you like learning, yes, I do. Do you like school? No?
I do not, because typically school is that where you
(27:08):
have to go and do things you don't want to do,
Like I don't want to take math one oh five.
But you know, like that sounds terrible. What would you
like to go and learn about how to be a
better coach? How to athletically administer the idea of moving
athletes and people in a direction with leadership? Oh yeah,
that sounds fantastic. So the program, even in its like infancy,
(27:31):
it was very good. And the reason why it was
very good is because there was an opportunity for me
to earn a master's which gives me a financial advantage
at a school system. It helps me figure out, like,
how can I learn and do things for something I
actually want to learn and do and I can apply it.
This isn't just a master's degree that I'll never apply
(27:52):
Every single lesson I had. I still, I mean I
have over here. I have a bookshelf still full of
things that I got from that that college, and I
bust them out all the time. It's been. It was
a worthwhile in program, and I know it's important to know.
I am not getting paid to say any of this.
It was worth it. And I know number of people,
just tons of coaches that I've gone through the program,
(28:14):
especially in Orange County. It is a fantastic program and
it's just down the street in Irvine. Feels good.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Do you think about if you didn't go through that
Master's program and finding out more about leadership, what kind
of coach you'd be now? And do you think about, Wow,
if I wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't be here
or knowing this or have that expertise.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
It's a good question. What I think the Master's program
really did for me was give me a push. So
it almost feels like I had a an advantage, like
instead of, you know, having to take the years to
learn these things myself, which I definitely am still learning
and I would continue to try to learn. I feel
like this the program pushed me ahead five or six years.
(29:00):
They say, hey, here you go, you start down there now,
because you've already received a lot of these skills. And
not only that, but a lot of the questions that
I had about leadership and about development. I now had
language for it because of the program.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
When you think about, you know, the kind of coach
you are now compared to where you were as a
young coach, What are some of the things maybe goals
that you're still trying to achieve Or is it just
by absorption, you know, seeing that maybe something a coach
does over here, or how they do something this way
(29:35):
and just kind of absorbing and learning as you go,
or are there things that you kind of have listed
down these are what I want to do, and this
is the kind of things I want to keep implementing
in my program.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I think over time you develop a system. I am
the amount of notes. I mean, I should share my
screen with you on the Zoom call and show you
the amount of Google tabs I have out, you know,
and on my Google drive. Oh my gosh, like the
amount of notes. I just I like to acquire information.
I like to figure out a way how that makes
sense to me and how I can apply it to
my culture and my team. And I like to acquire
(30:09):
so much. And I like to do that by developer
relationships with people. And I mean, I would say ninety
nine point nine percent of everything I do has stolen
from somebody and is through clinics or relationships. I mean
I became very good friends with Kareem will Have out
of Georgia, who's arguably probably the best sprint coach in
the world. And him and I've tucked countless hours on
(30:33):
the phone. I mean, he was in his car rallying
off formulas to get the best four hundred meter runner
to do what they need to do based on all
these different trajectories and data. And I was like writing
down furiously trying to figure out how to figure out
I mean and even that, like I had to go
and make a spreadsheet using you know, Excel and formulas
just because I couldn't understand he did in his head
(30:55):
in the car, but I had to put it down
on a piece of paper and make sure it was
a formula that worked well and act. So I think
my the coach that I was, the athletes were the
good athletes are always going to be successful. I mean
they just are bad coaching can still good kids are
still going to rise above that and be great. I
think one thing that I've changed a lot is that
(31:15):
everybody else, I take a lot of pride to know
that we had you know, thirty two kids break twelve
seconds in the hundred this year and we had five
kids break eleven. I mean like we I had nobody
get to state finals. I nobody actually on the boys
side get to past CIF prelims. It's just insane the
amount of speed out there. However, there is a large
(31:38):
group of kids that are all getting better. I take
a lot of pride in that. I take pride in
watching more people get better, and I the one thing
that I want to do and continue to prove on
is just improve that programming in just like small details.
And at the end of every single year, I like
to think I'm a better coach because of the experiences
I just had.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
You know, it's funny, I've done eighty two of these
and almost every single coach even administrator that we talked
to is happily is very eager to say, hey, I'm
always willing to learn and want to learn, and that's
what's so great about it. I don't know if the
program is something that helps with that to instill it
(32:20):
in the minds of people that go through the program,
or it's just part of the way coaches, good successful
coaches and administrators are wired knowing that, hey, just because
I'm here, I may not know everything, and that's okay.
It's okay to learn and grab and borrow and to
get better because it's gonna make you better for the
long term. I think that's interesting because not every coach
(32:40):
is like that. Some coaches like I learned it this way.
I'm not going to learn any other way. This is
who taught me twenty years ago when I played.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
And I'm not going to deviate from that. It's funny
you say that. I mean, my second year as an
assistant coach, the head coach at the time said, hey, listen,
I've been doing this for thirty years. I was like, man,
you're a he's a bad coach. I mean, you almost
did it one year and then you just repeated it
twenty nine times in a row. And I was like,
I am not going to be that. And the best
(33:07):
coaches in the world, and I think you alluded to it,
tim are are humble and are willing to share, and
I mean really share every article that I write, every
video series, every Twitter Instagram post. I'm in South Carolina
this week speaking at their Coaches Convention. I'm just giving
them everything because I get everything. It's like when people
(33:28):
are willing to share, you're willing to learn and grow. Yep.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Coachairs dot com. Find out more about coach Jtairs. His
program Tribuqai Hills High School Track and Field, one of
the best in southern California. Coach I enjoyed the conversation immenseally.
I knew it was going to be fun talking to you.
I know our listeners and viewers enjoyed it as well.
Again to find out more about coach coach airs dot com.
(33:54):
Great coach, great motivator, and great leader. Most importantly, thank
you so much for the time today.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Uh, it's my pleasure and you know it. Thanks for
the encouragement. I appreciate the affirmations absolutely well. There he
goes Coach JT.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Airs from Tribuco Hills High School here in southern California.
He has developed one of the best track and field
programs in the state of California. He's also developed and
runs one of the most as successful programs as far
as developing young runners training them. Find out more at
coachairs dot com. It's also got a great podcast on
(34:29):
track with Jtairs. Find out more about that on iHeartRadio
or wherever you get your podcasts. We certainly appreciate you
listening here so the Masters in Coaching podcast. Coach Airs
went through the Masters in Coaching and Athletics Administration program
back in twenty eleven, and here he is today as
one of the most successful track and field coaches in
(34:51):
Southern California and as he said, continuing to learn on
an everyday basis.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
We appreciate his time. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
If you want to find out more about the Masters
in Coaching and Athletics Administration Program at Concordia University, Irvine,
just go to CUI dot edu slash coaching. That's CUI
dot edu slash coaching. Got the summer program starting here
in just a few weeks. The fall program will be
here before.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
You know it. They got multiple start times through the year.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
And if you're a first time student in the program,
you get one thousand dollars scholarship.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Find out more if it's the right fit for you.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Coach Teacher Administrator, CUI dot edu slash Coaching. Once again,
thanks to coach at JT. Airs from Tribuco Hills High School.
Thanks to you for listening and being a part of
episode eighty two of the Masters in Coaching podcast. Now
in the books until next time. Tip Kate's saying, so long, everybody,
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